Kaylen Johnson, Student Work. Response to Touch Chapter, A Natural History of the Senses.

Shift

Photograph Series

"Shifting your attention to something else will distract 

you from pain; pain requires our full attention." 

-Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of The Senses

Statement:

Touch can sometimes allow us to ease pain. Different bad habits can help pain seem bearable. In order to create a photo, my friend Vic was smoking a cigar in a dreary bathroom alone. I wanted the mood to feel like this was her escape. Cigars and cigarettes can calm you or give you a buzz, which could maybe allow a person to shift their attention from something going on in their life or maybe some sort of pain. Her attention is elsewhere, she is hoping to mask her pain.